The non-partisan Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB) has completed an audit of the 196 economic development programs administered by the state at some point during the 2007-09 and 2009-11 biennia.

In response to the findings and recommendations of the LAB’s 2006 review of state economic development programs (report 06-9), 2007 Wisconsin Act 125 defined economic development programs, required agencies to report publicly on program results, and required the LAB to complete another review of the State’s economic development programs by July 1, 2012.

The audit of the programs was administered by the Department of Commerce and the departments of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP), Natural Resources (DNR), Tourism, and Transportation (DOT); the University of Wisconsin (UW) System; the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA); and the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS). The audit identified concerns related to the completeness of program information the agencies tracked and reported.

The LAB’s recommendations to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation and other state agencies administering economic development programs are as follows.

We include recommendations for WEDC to:

• Work with DATCP, DNR, Tourism, DOT, UW System, WHEDA, and WTCS to determine the programs to include in the October 2012 economic development report and report to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee by October 15, 2012, on the reasons why any programs that we identified were excluded from that report (p. 78); and
• Provide guidance to DATCP, DNR, Tourism, DOT, UW System, WHEDA, and WTCS on establishing goals and accountability measures for each program (p. 83).
• We include a recommendation for WEDC, DATCP, DNR, Tourism, DOT, UW System, WHEDA, and WTCS to ensure that accurate and complete information on program outcomes is included in the annual economic development reports (p. 80).
• We include a recommendation for each state agency administering an economic development program that awards grants or loans to comply with statutes and annually verify the performance measure information reported by the recipients of a sample of grants and loans (p. 70).
• We include a recommendation for each state agency administering an economic development program that awards grants, loans, or tax benefits either to comply with statutes and establish rules that allow it to recoup payments, withhold payments, and impose forfeitures on award recipients, or report to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee by October 15, 2012, on the reasons it has not established rules (p. 70).
• We include a recommendation for each state agency administering an economic development program that awards grants or loans either to comply with statutes and establish rules that require it to contractually require recipients of awards of at least $100,000 to submit verified financial statements, or report to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee by October 15, 2012, on the reasons it has not established rules (p. 71).
• We include a recommendation for the Legislature to consider modifying s. 238.07(2), Wis. Stats., to require the annual economic development reports to include additional information on the results of each economic development program (p. 81).

Related Documents:
Full Report
Highlights
LAB Podcast